What’s driving journalists to the AAP?

It worth noticing that ever since Delhi poll results, where AAP surprised many, including its most sanguine cadre, media is going gung-ho about the entire concept. Bulk of the ‘keyboard-warriors’ and TV media men can’t stop gracing the avant-garde outfit - “See, what I told you since beginning” or “I always knew” is their favorite one-liner. Most entertainingly, the scribes (particularly from Delhi) are more hell-bent on establishing their allegiance towards the political party in office, as is the tradition in the national capital since ages. However, not pointing any names, let’s roll the ball forward.

The latest to join the AAP is IBN 7 managing editor Ashutosh, who has confirmed now that he would be quitting his otherwise successful career in TV journalism to join the party. AAP already has many journalists charming its ranks mainly Manish Sisodia, Shazia Illmi and Rakhi Birla. All of them gave away their careers after joining the party, keeping up with the traditional journalistic principles about unbiased reporting. Presently, Abhinandan Sekhri, the co-founder of Newslaundry is the only journalist who despite being a member of the party since its establishment, also works for Newslaundry, popular media critique website.

With Ashutosh joining the party, the number of journalists is only to advance further. Hopefully, the party’s Kaushambi office doesn’t get mistaken for Press Club of India for any new comer in the city. The IBN 7 editor was spotted with Kejriwal in the AAP office a few days back and this made some news on the social networking sites too and therefore, it was always coming.

Rakhi Birla, the present Women & Child, Social Welfare and Languages Minister for Delhi was working as a journalist with one of the TV channels when she came in contact with Kejriwal and his associates during coverage of Lokpal Bill agitation at Ramlila maidan and quit her job to join the cause. And, similar is the story with other journalists too. Some questions can be raised here. What exactly Ashutosh (and other journos who are joining the party currently) found so alluring in the ideals of Kejriwal and his party now than ever before?

During one of the AAP membership drives in a city in Bihar a young girl came up with an interesting response on being asked the motivation behind joining the AAP. For her, Rakhi Birla is an inspiration, not for anything else but she too wants to be a minister at a young age just like 26 year old minister in the Delhi Cabinet. Correspondingly, there is no dearth of burnt out and wasted politicians willing to take up AAP membership. However, it’s still to be seen if they are deemed fit or not.

Coming back to the same topic why many of the prominent journalists now are lined up in queues to take up AAP membership now? The only counter is the exponential triumph the newly born political unit has tasted in the last 2 months or such.

Now when it seems the party is all set to make a legitimate impact in the looming Lok Sabha Polls, there is no scarcity of people from the elitist professions joining the party. The same political unit which was a mere untouchable just before Delhi polls is now being taken hands on by the same class of ‘opportunists’. As the party is still young and in look for influential candidates to represent it in various constituencies in the forthcoming polls, it provides a trouble-free opportunity to the similar class of expedients to strike when the iron is hot.

Today, developing an involvement with the AAP involuntarily provides you with a certificate of probity, that almost everyone, particularly journalists are in need of dreadfully, especially when the profession of news reporting is seen up with an insinuation of suspicion. A journalist with a pro-AAP ideology is branded as more honest and incorruptible than his peers.

Almost everyone throughout the length and breadth of the country must be in acquaintance of how a vast number of journalists have bagged influential positions with various political parties over the years. The tradition of the past is being followed presently and will surely be followed in the future as well. Grippingly, when you have an option of tasting power through a political party with a clean image at your disposal, not many would resist. Atleast, scribes from Delhi won’t. Isn’t it?